If you know me, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of stand-up comedy. While I have my favorites, many different kinds of humor appeal to me and I love to discover new comedians. Thankfully, we live in a city with a lot of opportunities to see these comics live! A lot of the greats even have roots in the area, whether by birth, schooling etc, so they seem to genuinely enjoy being here.
A few weeks back, A and I went to see native Bill Burr at the Wilbur(r) during Bill Burr Week where over 9 days, he performed 19 times, breaking a local record for most consecutive sold out shows. I’ve seen all of his stand-up specials, but this was my first time seeing him live, and I was blown away. It was all new material and absolutely HILARIOUS. Keep in mind, we saw him about halfway through his long run, but he didn’t seem to be burnt out by it. His opener, Paul Virzi, was new to me and just as hysterical– I’d see him again too. I read that Bill had wanted to do a bunch of shows in a smaller space vs a larger venue because it allows more connection to the audience and I think it does make a difference for the better. As a bonus, I also happen to really like going to the Wilbur Theatre for its’ older charm.
Last Friday, my best and I went to FINALLY go see Kevin Hart live at the Garden! We can’t get enough of the guy in general, but in the past, we always missed seeing him live by about a week. Without fail, we’d look him up and sure enough, he’d have just been in the area. Not this time! He performed three sold out shows and we attended the first one. As a general rule, no cameras are allowed at comedy performances, but they were very strict and even tossing people from the building for using their phones because it was all new material. Supposedly, they were also taping that night, so it may make it into his next special. Let me tell you, he was worth the wait and did not disappoint! He performed for a long time too, making it worth the higher than normal cost.
Last but not least, I just had the opportunity to attend a Comedy Central taping live last night! Joe List, a comedian and friend I made in my early 20s (though haven’t seen in years) has seen his star rise over the past decade and will now have a special on Comedy Central along with fellow funny person, Michelle Buteau . Two of my best girlfriends, who also knew him way back when, were also able to get free tickets so we brought our significant others and had a really fun time. Not only was the show a riot, it was extremely wonderful to see a good person finding success as a working comedian, which is no easy feat. I was also super impressed with how organized the whole process was and how well it ran on schedule– shout out to Royale and Comedy Central for that!
So basically, the moral(…?) of this sort of long, photoless (since I couldn’t take any of the performances) post is to take advantage of all the wonderful (and sometimes free/cheap) opportunities to support comedians, especially ones with Boston ties. It makes for a fun night out and laughing is good for the body and soul (I’m not a doctor, but just trust me on that)!